For as long as I can remember, people have been wondering how Twitter was going to make money. Adding traditional ad spots would both look bad, and devalue the user experience. So far, Twitter has done a pretty good job with it’s Promoted Tweets which is probably the least intrusive ad I’ve ever seen. Today, Twitter launches Promoted Trends which are topics that show up in their Trending Topics section encouraging more conversation.

The first topic they’ve displayed is Toy Story 3, which comes out this weekend. So, is it working? Well, it’s hard to get exact numbers, but at 9am EST using the old school Twitter search, tweets including “Toy Story 3″ are coming in at about 100 per hour. Not bad. As we move into prime tweet time (PTT) for the United States, that number is likely to double or triple.

Researchers at National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have identified the precise protein fragment, or peptide, that can trigger diabetes in mice. The finding, published in the June 15, 2010, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, supports an emerging theory about the origins of autoimmunity, and may lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in humans.

“Our findings contradict conventional wisdom, which suggests that insulin peptides that are well presented to the immune system trigger diabetes,” said John Kappler, PhD, Professor of Immunology at National Jewish Health. “We believe, however, that the peptide we identified triggers diabetes precisely because it is so poorly presented to the immune system.”

The immune system tries to delete all T cells that might cause autoimmune disease. During development in the thymus, immature T cells are exposed to “self” protein fragments, which are part of the organism. T cells that recognize and bind to them are destroyed. This process, however, is not foolproof, and autoimmune T cells do occasionally escape.

This new device, dubbed the Cerevo Cam Live!, just might be the first digital camera capable of streaming live video to Ustream without the need for additional hardware. In addition to live streaming video, the camera can capture video and images that can be uploaded to your favorite social networking site like Facebook, etc.

The camera is available from Japan Trend Shop and is equipped with a lithium ion battery capable of streaming video for up to two full hours and can upload video to YouTube automagically.

It’s been recently reported that Twitter is testing a new “You’re Both Following” feature, which is clearly inspired by Facebook’s “Mutual Friends” feature. While this move is pretty understandable, it got me a little concerned about Twitter’s future: what if Twitter keeps adapting itself to be more similar to Facebook? Here are five things I really hope Twitter doesn’t adapt from Facebook.

Yeah, Twitter has been adding new features – like location support – to battle competitors, but Facebook is a perfect example of how applications can be taken too far. I’m sure many people remember the Facebook Wall’s of the past which were clustered with dozens of applications. While that’s gone now, I still cringe every time my notifications list is overcome with MobWars invitations. Twitter’s appeal is in simplicity, so let’s keep it that way.

Look, I’d be lying if I was a Twitter aficionado – I only recently got the damn thing (and only have 7 followers, so follow me @mhoughton hee hee!) – so needless to say the whole thing is a little bit overwhelming. However, one thing I immediately noticed was the clean uniformity of a Twitter page. Why? Because there aren’t half-dozen thumbnails of ironic rap videos posted by friends on my account page. There isn’t a horde of tagged photos of me performing my karaoke rendition of Mariah Carey’s Loverboy from Saturday night. And there are definitely no LOLcat photos that have only now been discovered by my mother. If only for my sake, stay clean, Twitter.

Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Well now you can show your mood while putting back some much needed coffee or tea (of whatever else you wanna put in these things). Thabto has created Mood Mugs, which display a mood right on your coffee cup. Whether you’re happy, sad, or still tired, you’ll be able to let people know without having to tell them yourself.

Starbucks has just announced that starting July 1, 2010, everyone who enters a Starbucks store can access their Wi-Fi Internet absolutely free. That is, of course, if you happen to be at a participating company-owned location (which shouldn’t be a problem since there are thousands of them).

Starting July 1, you’ll be able to enjoy free, one-click, unlimited Wi-Fi at all company-operated Starbucks stores in the United States. What does that mean? It means:

Free – no Starbucks Card required

One-Click – no username or password needed

Unlimited – no 2-hour restriction

Just visit your neighborhood Starbucks, open your browser or mobile device and click to connect. It’s our way of providing you with a great digital experience to go with your cup of coffee.

At TechVert, we’re big fans of creative business cards, and we’ll be showcasing a lot more as time goes on. For now, we’d like to show off this new business card by photographer, Steph Goralnick. She embedded a film negative between two layers of heavy stock for an event for emerging photographers. Who would throw away a card like that? Good job Steph!

This awesome video, shot with a Canon 5D Mark II, shows champion freediver Guillaume Néry base jumping underwater at Dean’s Blue Hole. The sinkhole, located in the Bahamas, is the second deepest underwater sinkhole in the world at 663 feet to the ocean floor.

The video was shot by Julie Gautier who happens to also be a freediving champion from France. The video, while it looks like a single dive, was actually shot over four days. So far, no freediver has ever made it to the bottom of the ocean floor at Dean’s Blue Hole. Ten bucks for the first person that can do that… or do this.Read More